Don't Say A Word
by Yamikeckley
Summary: When Harry comes back from his fifth year, despite warnings from the Order, Vernon abuses Harry and locks him into the attic. When he is finally rescued, he finds he has became mute from the shock of what happened. He closes up to almost everyone near him
1. Default Chapter

Don't Say A Word  
Chapter 1

Thud! A raven-haired boy just sixteen lie next to a wall crumpled up in the  
fetal position, spitting blood out of his mouth. His uncle and obese cousin was standing over him with both of his fists clenched and an evil glint in their eyes. The boy, Harry Potter, lay their bruised and bloody. His glasses lie on the floor broken and forgotten.  
"Hit him Dudley." ordered his uncle. He felt himself being picked up onto  
his feet then was hit with another sickening smack as Dudley's fist made contact  
with the side of his jaw, causing more blood to fly out of his mouth. Harry  
fell instantly back to the floor. Then the thunderous laugh of both his  
uncle and cousin filled the attic.  
" Let's go son." he told his son patting him on the back proudly telling him  
how his hitting skills had improved. They left Harry on the floor a bloody  
mess. He lay there between consciousness and unconsciousness for hours.  
Flashback  
Beatings had been a regular occurrence since Harry had returned from his fifth   
year at Hogwarts. The moment he got into the car he was hit in his stomach.  
He then felt a needle go into his arm, then a second later darkness. He woke  
up in a dark room tied to a chair.  
" Dad he is awake." he heard Dudley scream followed by the booming steps of his  
uncle running up stairs. A door swung open and Vernon Dursley stood there  
with a smirk on his face.  
" Oh good it's about time." he saw the confused look on Harry's face. "You're probably wondering what we are doing?" Vernon asked him. Harry, still  
a little woozy from the drug, just nodded. "Well you see simply I am tired  
of putting up with you. You are constantly putting us in danger. It is time  
that you got what is coming to you." With that Harry felt a large beefy fist  
hit him directly in the face. He howled in pain and he was fighting back  
tears. Then he felt another one hit him, then another, over and over again.  
" Stop for Merlin's sake, Stop!" he yelled out only to be hit again directly  
in the mouth.  
" Not till your freaky little friends see that it's not safe to keep you  
here anymore." He yelled back as Harry felt something wooden hit him in the  
stomach.  
" Nice swing son." Vernon chuckled to his son. Harry looked up to see Dudley  
leaning on a cricket bat. "Now you will do well to remember that it will  
only get worse if they don't come and get you." with that they cut him loose  
and let him fall to the floor, as they left he passed out. He woke  
up a few hours later to a wet cloth being draped on top of his head. His eyes opened wide and he retreated to the wall fearing another beating then he looked up to  
see his aunt beckoning him to her. He went over to him and she cleaned up  
all the blood and left without saying a single word.  
End of Flashback

Harry woke up hours later. It had been a month and a week since that day  
and true to his uncles word the beatings did get worse. He did try to escape once,  
but was caught and thrown back into the attic a bloody and broken mess.  
After a while the lack of contact except for his daily beatings he became silent and completely with drawn from the world. The hopes of someone coming to rescue him died with each beating. His new silent attitude pleased his Uncle immensely. Even his beatings were silent except when his body hit the floor with a thud. When he finally regained some of his bearings he got up to get something to drink, even though he couldn't really keep it down. He finally fell into an uneasy sleep after having what food and water he was allowed, which was very little to say the least. The next day   
started out no different. He was cleaned up and giving a couple crackers.  
He rested as he waited for his uncle and cousin to get back home. Dudley had  
been doing an internship at his fathers drilling company. This meant that  
they would return home at the same time. Then they would watch a little T.V., eat  
dinner and then go and beat Harry. This had become the normal routine in his   
life. But today was different.

When they had returned home today, Harry heard a booming bark come from the  
downstairs.  
"They had gotten a dog?" he thought to himself slightly confused. He knew his aunt didn't like animals. Then he heard the footsteps of his uncle and cousin  
coming up the stairs.  
" Look at what we found, boy." his uncle told him pointing at the doorway,   
where a dog stood. "Now instead of us we are going to have this dog tear  
you up. Like in one of those, dog versus dog, fights." the dog started to come  
forward. Harry knew that in his condition he would not be able to defend  
himself against the dog. His uncle saw the fear written all over his face  
and gave a laugh that seemed to shake the room.  
" I told you it would get worse." he told him just as the dog walked into  
the light. The dog was a huge and pure black. It had sharp teeth that were  
just showing as if it was smiling. He knew it looked like something he  
should know, but he couldn't figure it out.  
" Oh yeah I think this will be enjoyable to watch. Since this dog looks big  
enough to crush him." Vernon told his son.  
" Yeah it should. The dog looks mad with his ears the way they are. I just  
hope the fight last long enough to properly enjoy it." he answered back eagerly.  
Then suddenly something clicked in his head. Trewlaney predicted this would happen years ago. Now it had finally come to finish him off.  
It was the Grim.


	2. Chapter 2

Don't Say A Word  
Chapter 2

Harry started shaking uncontrollable as he remembered what Professor Trewlaney said back in his third year. She foretold his death by a grim. It  
now looked like it would come true as the grim was bearing down on him snarling. Harry started stumbling backwards towards the wall till he was  
finally up against it. The grim still advancing till it was right up next to his face. Harry started to get transfixed in its eyes when it blinked, wait  
no it winked at him.  
"Dogs don't wink," he thought to himself confused as the grim started to wag its tail and winked again. The grim then turned and started to growl at  
both Vernon and Dudley. Vernon looked furious.

"Stupid dog can't even do it right." He turned towards his son. "Well Dudley it looks like we will have to do it ourselves." But Dudley wasn't paying any attention. He was standing behind his father with a terrified look on his face. He pointed a shaking fingerer and stammered out."Mur, murd, murderer!" He finally got it out. Vernon turned around just to be face to face with a furious looking wizard with wand in hand. Vernon looked at him wide eyed in fear. Sirius Black had returned.

Vernon looked at him wide-eyed in fear.  
"You. You are supposed to be dead. It was in their paper." He choked out with clenching fists. Sirius was fuming.  
"The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated." he assured him. "Now what is the meaning of this!" He asked pointing to the now unconscious form  
of Harry. Vernon started to just smirk.  
"Oh that piece of filth." He said with the utmost disgust. "We decided to teach him and your kind a lesson." he told him proudly.  
"Yeah I needed a life like punching bag." chimed in Dudley. Sirius raised his wand and cried "Ricashampra!" the force of the spell sent Dudley through  
the wall behind him. Sirius then pointed his wand at a very purple-faced Vernon Dursley.  
"Now Dursley lets see you treat me the same way you treated Harry." At seeing this Vernon immediately took a swing at him, connecting to the side of  
Sirius's face taking him down to one knee.  
"Not so tough are you?" Vernon said smugly getting ready to take another swing. But this time Sirius saw the punch coming. In one fluid motion Sirius  
grabbed his wrist and slightly turned it. Then brought his arm up in an uppercut motion, at Vernon's elbow, snapping his arm in half. Vernon let out  
a howl in pain, holding his arm that was sticking out in an odd angle. Sirius then gave him a quick right hook that knocked Vernon clean out. Sirius then walked over to Harry and picked him up into his arms. Leaving the room he headed down stairs. He reached the landing by the stairs and  
heard Petunia call from the kitchen for Vernon.  
"You done doing your business already? That didn't take you long." she said not even noticing Sirius walking into the kitchen. She started turning   
around. "I guess I will go clean him up." then she saw Sirius and almost fell to the ground. "Oh, my god, Sirius." He just shook his head and left  
the kitchen and left the house. When the reached the road he pulled out his wand and summoned the Knight Bus. The bus pulled up and Stan stepped out.  
"Welcome to the Knight Bus the." he didn't finish when he saw Sirius.  
"I know all of this already. Can you please take us to Grimwauld Street in London, as fast as you can." he asked with urgency in his voice.  
"Of course Mr. Black it would be a pleasure." He replied in a bow. "It'snice to see you back with us, but what happened to Harry?" He added while  
letting Sirius on to the bus.  
"He was attacked." he simply told him while brushing by him and glaring at him that told him to be quite. He took Harry over to the back of the bus and  
laid him down on one of beds. He brushed the hair out of Harry's eyes and for the first time took in his appearance.  
"I'm sorry Harry. I should have got back sooner." he whispered. The bus came to a sudden stop.  
"London!" Stan called. Sirius grabbed Harry and made his way to the front of the bus.  
"How much do I owe you?" he asked.  
"Nothin' Mr. Black, just make sure Harry is alright." Sirius nodded and got off and made his way to number twelve. He got to the space between numbers eleven and twelve and thought of the address as he approached. When the door showed up he ran up to it and kicked it open. Instantly the room filled with   
the screaming of Mrs. Black's portrait.  
"Someone Help!" he started screaming. No one came since the screaming of the portrait was drowning his voice out. "HELP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He heard voices and followed in the direction in which they were coming. He burst into the kitchen still holding Harry's limp body. It seemed that there was a meeting going on, as the whole room turned towards him. He heard a shriek from Mrs. Weasley as she and everyone else rushed towards him. Everyone started talking at once that he could only catch pieces of it.  
"Sirius is that you?"  
"What happened to Harry?"  
Then Dumbledore with a booming voice shouted "Quite!" everyone stopped talking at once. "Now we need to get Harry upstairs to a bed and taken care of. Then I am sure Sirius will answer any questions we have for him." Mrs. Weasley came over and took Harry from Sirius's arms. She led them to Sirius's room. When  
they all got there, Dumbledore summoned Madam Pomfrey immediately. When she got there she quickly bustled over to Harry.  
"Merlin what happened to this boy this time. He is in extremely bad shape." She told him as she started performing several spells on him. "Yes he will  
be in this bed for a while so he can heal properly. It seems he has at least a couple broken rib, 2 crushed vertebrae, and a ruptured disk, along with  
several minor injuries I was able to heal quickly." Mrs. Weasley turned and started to sob into her husbands shoulder. While the rest turned to Sirius  
waiting for an explanation, Sirius just collapsed while Pomfrey was examining Harry. He sighed and sat up., beginning to tell them.  
"I finally found a way out of that bloody veil, but I didn't return in the Ministry. I landed in a jungle. It only took me a couple days to get back to  
England, so I figured I should go see Harry first. So I waited outside of his house for him for a couple days. He never came out so I started to get  
worried. I got up to the house to see if I could at least sneak a peek, when his uncle got a hold of me. He took me in the house and immediately led me  
up two flights of stairs into what seemed like the attic. The first thing I saw when he opened the door was Harry lying on the floor….." he paused there  
for a couple seconds, then continued on. He told them everything that had happened. Everyone seemed pale after he had finished.  
"Well I do believe that I will go collect Harry's thing and have a word with Mr. Dursley." Dumbledore told them walking towards the door, but turned  
back around to add. "Care to join me Remus, Sirius, and Arthur." The three nodded, got up and left with Dumbledore, leaving Tonks, Mrs. Weasley  
and Madame Pomfrey to take care of Harry.

Over the next week and a half Harry laid in bed healing as good as could be expected, but his injuries were taking longer than they had hoped for. They had  
placed him in a deep sleep throughout the healing process to save him any unnecessary pain. Sirius had hardly left his side since he returned with  
Dumbledore. Even though he was a free man he would never be able to enjoy it without Harry there with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Don't Say a Word  
Chapter 3

Harry opened his eyes to a very blurry room. He started to grope around for his glassed. He eventually found them and found his door ajar. On the other side he heard an argument going on.  
"He will never survive the Dark Lord, Sirius. Even you got to be able to see this." Yelled what seemed the voice of one Professor Snape.  
"All know is that he will never give up as long as there is a single breathe in his body. He has too much of his father's will in him." shouted Sirius.  
"Yes I know this Sirius. He has demonstrated this countless times before, but that is not enough to defeat the Dark Lord. He is still not nearly powerful enough as he should be. He needs more training and skill." Snape said almost calmly.  
"Why can't you just call him by his name, not what he wants to be called. It is not good to fear him if you are against him." Sirius calmly changed the subject.  
"Sirius his name is pure evil. It is the worst omen of death. It is even worse than the Grim." Snape asserted.  
"I must be not thinking straight after the other night." Harry thought "Why am I in this bed. Aunt Petunia must have had pity on me. I will show her not to do that. I am leaving." he thought since he was feeling a little better than he had been for a long time. Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to get out of bed. But once he lifted himself onto his feet he crumpled to the floor with a loud bang. He heard hurried footsteps and the door slammed open. He looked up expecting to see his aunt, but got something different.

He saw both Snape and Sirius standing over him looking down at him.  
"Harry you shouldn't be out of bed yet. You are still recovering." Sirius told him. He bent down to pick him up, but Harry thinking it was a trick scurried away from him the best he could. Sirius puzzled by this reaction. Surly Harry wasn't afraid of him. So he went for a second time to pick him up, but instead of scurrying away he slid under the bed.  
"Go get Dumbledore. He will know what to do." He told Snape. As he was leaving he heard Sirius mumble "At least I hope he will."  
Under the bed a scared Harry looked around frantically not knowing where he was or what was happening. He heard someone trying to get him from out from  
under the bed but he wasn't going to barge. He knew his uncle was trying to trick him, so he wasn't going to make it easier for him to get him. He wasn't going to make it easier for him to get him and beat him.  
"No," he thought "If he wants me he will have to get me himself." He heard more people coming in.  
"Sirius what seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore asked him calmly.  
"What the hell, I must be hallucinating. Now I am hearing Dumbledore." He thought  
"Well I guess Harry woke up and tried to get out of bed, but fell to the ground. We heard him and came in here at once to see out what happened. When seeing him on the floor I went up to him to help him back onto the bed, but he wouldn't let me and got under the bed like he was scarred of me." he told the last part with sadness in his voice. He never thought Harry would ever be afraid of him. Dumbledore saw the concern in his eyes. He turned to Snape.  
"Will you please go fetch Madam Pomfrey and tell her Harry's awake." He nodded and left the room. "I want to talk to Harry alone." he told Sirius. Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but shut it figuring he knew what he was doing. He left leaving Dumbledore and Harry alone. Dumbledore took out his wand and levitated the bed up and to the other side of the room. He conjured himself a chair and sat down. He looked over to Harry still laying on his stomach still looking around frantically. He shook his head. He knew something would be wrong with when he woke up, but never thought it wouldn't be this bad.  
"Harry calm down and look at me." Harry finally looked up and saw Dumbledore. He settled down a little, but not completely."Good, do you know where you are at?" Dumbledore asked Harry. He shook his head while still looking around the room. "Ok Harry you are at Grimmauld Place. Sirius brought you here when he rescued you from your uncle's house." After Dumbledore mention Harry's uncle he started to panic again. He tried to get back to the bed, but Dumbledore stood in front of him and grabbed his shoulders to stop him. "Harry your safe now. He can't get to you anymore." but Harry was still trying to get away. "Harry we took care of it, he won't hurt you again." Harry seemed like he finally understood and started to calm again. "Now that is over, I will move your bed. I want you to get back in it and I will send madam Pomfrey in to see how well you're healing." With that said he moved the bed back to its original position and went back into the hall.

He headed straight to Madam Pomfrey.  
"Ok Poppy he is ready to see you now." she nodded and left through the door. He then turned and started to talk to Sirius.  
"I was able to calm him down. I honestly didn't believe that it would be this bad when he finally woke. Every time at the very mention of his uncle he starts to panic." He told Sirius.  
"Is their anything at all that can do for him." Sirius asked. Dumbledore just shook his head.  
"I am afraid that there is nothing we can do. Even if we could I wouldn't. Mental abuse is different then physical. It takes longer to heal or it may never. It also has to heal on its own. It is something he needs to get through himself. We may be here if he needs us." He answered him.  
"There is something different about him though, like his personality." he told Dumbledore.  
"The abuse he went through could change the best of us, but nevertheless I do know what you mean Sirius. Something did seem a bit off. I do have my suspicions, but we will have to wait for Poppy to see if I am right." he told him. Sirius nodded waiting for her to come out. After an hour Madam Pomfrey came out and closed the door silently.  
"Well he is sleeping now. His injuries are healing well, but there is some extensive mental trauma." she told them both.  
"And what do you mean by that?" Sirius asked her.  
"Well it seems that from the shock of the abuse he endured from his uncle that he has gone mute." She replied. Sirius broke down crying.  
"You mean he is unable to talk?" implied Dumbledore. She shook her head.  
"I never told you he was unable. It seems he refuses to do so or that he literally can't and would have to be taught again. I would bet anything though that he refuses to talk. If that is the case then we can't force him to do so. He will have to open up himself." She explained to them.  
"Thank you, Poppy. You may go and we will summon you if we need you."  
Dumbledore told her. She gave a weak smile then left.  
"I will kill him!" Sirius suddenly growled.  
"You can't Sirius. The authorities in his world have him. It is not our place to punish him." Dumbledore emphasized.  
"He still deserves to die for what he did." he growled again.  
"I know" he simply told him. "You may go and stay with Harry if you want. I need to take care of some things." he told Sirius patting him sympathetically on the back. Sirius nodded and left into the room. "Heal soon Harry, the world needs you." he whispered.

Then with a swish of his cloak he was gone.


End file.
